Carrying twins

The discovery that you are carrying twins usually comes at your first abdominal ultrasound (7-8 weeks
gestation) - a far cry from our parents' generation,
when as many as 50 per cent of women did not know they were carrying twins until they were born.

Multiple
births are happening more commonly than they once were. This is due to a number of factors:

Older Mums

With many women waiting until they are well into their 30s before even thinking about conceiving, multiple
births are on the increase. Blame hormones!
Women in their 30s and 40s have higher levels of the sex hormone, oestrogen, than younger women - making their
ovaries more likely to produce one egg
at a time.

For some older mothers, though, conception can
only come about with the help of assisted reproductive
techniques such as IFV. These techniques can
increase the chances of multiple births. Twins make up around 90 per cent of multiple
births.

The greater the number of pregnancies a woman has already had, the higher her odds of conceiving twins. For
women under 20 years of age the
incidence of conceiving non-identical twins is about 3 per 1000 births (0.3 %). For women in the 35 to 40 years age
bracket, the incidence increases to about
14 per 1000 births (1.4%). If you are over the age of 40, be aware that the incidence declines again.

Heredity

Are you a fraternal twin? Or do you have fraternal twins
siblings? If so, you are more likely to conceive
fraternal
twins of your own.

Identical Twins

This occurs when one fertilised egg splits and
develops two babies - each containing exactly the same genetic
information.

Fraternal Twins

When two eggs are fertilised by two sperm and
produce two genetically unique children they are called
fraternal
twins. Twins are more likely to be
female (50.3 percent) than they are to be male.

Being the mother to twins (or more) will be busy but, as with any motherhood experience, full of plenty of very
rewarding fun times too.

Be sure to seek support if you need it and don't be afraid to ask family and friends for help in the lead up to,
and the days after the birth of your
babies.

Kidspot Social has a group especially for mums-to-be of twins, Expecting Twins. Join up
and meet mums like you today.